The misunderstanding led to a minor scare Friday aboard a Southwest Airlines flight traveling from Baltimore to Long Island’s MacArthur Airport.

An airline spokeswoman tells Newsday that a pilot had made a “fun announcement” to passengers on the flight that one of their fellow travelers was the mother of an air traffic controller. He also wished her a happy birthday.

But at least a few heard the word “mom” as “bomb” and became alarmed.

Flight attendants tried to explain that nothing was wrong, but after the plane landed two passengers were disgruntled enough to complain to security officials.